Swim Lessons

The girls had their first ever swim lesson today. I am with Emma during her swim lesson and Ruth and Naomi have their swim lesson with the instructor.


And...I must say I think I am enjoying it more than they are. It's not everyday you get to practice blowing bubbles in the water :)

Spring

Spring has sprung and we are taking advantage of the beautiful weather by going barefoot, making dandelion necklaces, watering flowers and riding bikes.

Ah...my favorite time of the year!

I'm in love...

I have the coolest friends ever! Yep...some of my friends from church all went in together and bought me this beeyyuutiful pink kitchen aid mixer for my birthday. What used to be only a dream is now a reality sitting prettily on my kitchen counter.

Today, we christened it by making chocolate chip blondies.

Naomi was fascinated and begged to pour the flour in. I obliged.

Emma helped with clean-up.

While Ruth colored and looked on. 

Yes, I truly do have awesome friends. But, not just because they got me a pink kitchen aid mixer. Nope. They are awesome friends because of their thoughtfulness, kindness and love for me and my family. For bending over backwards to make sure I had a great birthday. For taking the time to do something that they totally did not have to do.

I LOVE the friends that God has put in my life! Thank you dear ones, not just for the pink kitchen aid mixer (though I'm LOVING it), but for your friendship and love!

My Girls

My girls and I...

...we like to make funny faces :D

Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas...

and Daddy was up building a castle for the little princesses.

Snow

Snow. I am not a fan. However, it does provide the most perfect lighting for pictures.

   

Christmas Cooking

Since, we are sort of snowed in for the time being, what better way to pass the time than baking? I have been wanting to try the cake pops from Bakerella for forever. We had plenty of time. I had all the ingredients. So, we went for it.



They were lots of fun to make, but oh so messy!




And, of course, making these cake pops while watching Bing Crosby's Holiday Inn on your laptop is totally optional, but I would totally recommend it.



I would also recommend hiring a maid to come clean up afterwards while you scrub your children down.

 


And, of course, I recommend eating the yummy pops.

Blizzard

I think we are going to be stuck inside for a while

Snow

Last Saturday, we woke up to several inches of snow and although snow is not my favorite thing in the world, it did provide the perfect backdrop for our Christmas card pictures.


This picture of Brad and I is, of course not our Christmas card picture

 

Surprisingly, neither is this one
 

And one of the things that drives me crazy about going out into the snow???

...all this!

Gingerbread: Part 1

We sort of, if you want to be technical about it cheated on this house...a little. The house itself came pre-assembled and ALL we had to do was decorate...lovely! The girls absolutely adore doing anything in the kitchen so they were all for helping out with this.


What did they help with, you ask? Why eating the candy, of course. I was looking for the red, gummy, jelly things to make the pathway and couldn't seem to find them...that is, until I looked at Emma, who looked at me (with her mouth full of the red, gummy, jelly things) nodded her head and said "yum, Mommy."

So, I titled this blog post "part 1", because...we also have a gingerbread train to put together and decorate...how exciting!!!!

I know these girls are excited!

 

Ornaments

Hanging ornaments every year brings back so many memories. Take for instance, these...some of my favorites on our tree.

Left to Right:
~Bride to Be 2003
~Sweetheart 2003 (I gave to Brad the Christmas before we were married)
~Our First Christmas Together 2004



~Congratulations on your new baby (given to us the Christmas we got Ruth & Naomi)
~Baby's First Christmas 2005 (can you guess which one is which in the pictures?)

          

Another first Christmas ornament for Ruth and Naomi. Given to us by the Smith Family



Baby's First Christmas (Emma)

 

Life

Still in our pajamas at 10:55 am



Fruit Cheerios now crunched into my carpet



Hair not brushed



Just one of those days...



When life gives you crunched cheerios in your carpet...take pictures.

And enjoy even these moments